There exist a wide variety of drum plotters, including generally speaking drum plotters wherein the source of writing energy is internal to or external of recording material to be written upon, which is maintained in a generally cylindrical configuration, during writing.
In recent years direct write recording materials have been developed for use in plotters. These materials are distinguished from conventional recording materials in that they do not require photographic development. These materials do have the disadvantage that they require relatively high input energy levels for writing thereupon.
The disclosures of the following prior art patents are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,838 describes a method of high sensitivity imaging and imaging film therefor. Reference is made particularly to the patents and patent applications mentioned at column 1, lines 1-30.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,091 describes a two-dimensional laser diode array in which the laser diodes are arranged in a staggered pattern.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,974 describes an image recorder with a linear laser diode array which is mounted to project the output of the diodes onto a thermally activated photosensitive material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,472 describes beam expansion and relay optics for a laser diode array.